2018-04-04: Quarry in the Quarry
- Log: Quarry in the Quarry
- Cast: Talise Gianfair, Sephilia Lampbright, Seraph Lanval, Tethelle Cirdian, Layna Manydays, Fei Fong Wong, Elhaym van Houten
- Where: Azado Quarry
- Date: April 4, 2018
- Summary: Following a tip from the Fox Company's mysterious benefactor, the group - with friends - checks out Althena's Guard's activities in Azado.
DG: A party led by Talise Gianfair is now entering Azado Quarry. DG: Party formation is now over. An Entry Challenge will now be drawn and displayed to the party.
================================<* Azado Quarry *>================================ =========================<* CHALLENGE - Plan an Entry *>========================== |Type: Entry |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 1 | ----------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------- Althena's Guard is well-entrenched here, with the quarry partially walled off by tall, sharpened logs. There's no slipping past the guards with sheer speed; it'll take some time to get a sense of their patrol patterns, which entrances are considered least essential, and which ones are most prone to distractions. =Dungeon Conditions: Hesitate, Tire===========================================
<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.
Word about Althena's Guard activity in the quarry near Azado had filtered down to Talise and the rest of the Fox Company by way of a courier. Specifically, the bearded and stolid Benedict Greygust had randomly rode up and passed on a message from the group's mysterious benefactor.
With that knowledge in hand, Talise - who happened to pass on word to Fei, whom she's come to appreciate a lot more after he helped reunite Sephilia with her parents - got moving. The group parted ways with Benedict at the outskirts of town and went on to the quarry.
Only to find the place much more entrenched than she thought.
"Wow, damn," Talise murmurs as she lurks behind a mound of tumbled rocks, leaning out just enough to stare with a certain amazement at the heavy fortifications the Guard have set up here. "That's a lot of security for just mining stone for a new shrine. Strange...."
The swordswoman reaches into her cloak. She comes out with a box of something. It's the box of Mrs. Mumford's Chocolate Biscuits she bought on Filgaia before the transport - a little memento of Ida. Munching absently on a biscuit, she offers some up to those who've come along with her, even as she watches the patrols moving along the wooden palisade.
"Tethelle," she murmurs, leaning over to her second-shortest friend. "I think I see a side entrance over there that's not as guarded. Look - the perimeter guards kind of skirt around it."
DG: Talise Gianfair has used her Tool Chocolate Biscuits toward her party's challenge, Plan an Entry.
<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.
Sephilia Lampbright! Famous explorer's daughter--and said famous explorer has been met by other people now! It's not just a story.
Neither is the way Althena's Guard have been jerks these past couple years!
Sephy's presently consulting her journal and jotting notes about patrol routes. "If they do this this way...then we have a window..." The girl leans back on her heels, crouching, tapping her nose in thought.
DG: Sephilia Lampbright has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Plan an Entry.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.
Lanval almost slept through the Fox Company's preparations, like he kind of does through everything really. For all the Seraphim that they could have befriended and enlisted the, er, 'aid' of, they had to get the one whose entire existence appears to revolve around only getting totally wasted on booze. There's talk about Althena's Guard activity in the nearby quarry about Azado.
One eyelid raises, and a more attentive aquamarine eye follows them departing to investiage on orders of their mysterious benefactor. He strikes that silver beard with one hand. The other reaches for a drink. The rest of him rolls off and hits the floor with a wet 'thud' noise.
SOME TIME LATER
Lanval can be seen just casually walking into one of the entrances. It's not the same one Talise is pointing out.
"For a shriiiine... huh." The portly, barefoot, long-bearded wasterl slurs his thoughts aloud, contemplative as he is completely smashed. This would be suicide to just walk into a highly guarded fortification by Althena's faithful like nobody's business, but there is one key difference.
Lanval is a Seraph. The odds he'll be in the company of anyone that can see him is very small. This makes him maybe the most valuable prospective scout they can have, being able to go inside and out.
...Problem is, he doesn't come back outside once he staggers into an entryway of his pleasing. It'd be nice if he called back to them or something!
DG: Seraph Lanval has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Plan an Entry.
<Pose Tracker> Tethelle Cirdian has posed.
Tethelle spent the weekend travelling away from the group, splitting up to try to find more Filgaians that might have been marooned on Lunar; she still doesn't know how many there are and there are some that she'd really like to know if they were around or not.
She was sort of successful, in that she found one, but running into Rosaline was not how she expected things to go. Still, while there were strong words, there was no battle, and they split up peacefully enough after some prolonged awkwardness - the kind of awkwardness when you have a Hellion and a priestess in the same tent and neither one of them wants to be the one to start something.
While she's since returned to the group she's been travelling with, and she mentioned that she saw Rosaline without either of them trying to take off the other's head, Tethelle hasn't been talking much about it. She still has some thoughts to work through. Which means a distraction - breaking into a Guard facility, such as it is - is appreciated.
"If it was most people, I would point out that marble is very expensive, and if they stop everyone else from getting a claim on it they don't have to pay so much," Tethelle says, "but I don't think that applies to the Church. They don't really have... money issues." As best Tethelle can tell, they run Azado, what with Mauri's training grounds being here and all, so they probably already own the quarry.
And that's assuming it's marble at all. Tethelle doesn't know much about rocks.
"Hmm," she agrees with Talise. "I wonder why they'd go around, unless it was a dangerous opening or something. We should - Wait, where's Lanval?" While he's generally pretty hard to spot (and indeed Tethelle has had no issues with him serving as scout before), walking into a facility guarded by Althena's Guard while they are literally next door to the place that new priests are trained seems a lot riskier than usual. All they'd need is one recruit who can see him clearly...
Tethelle keeps low as she advances to get a better look around. Talise had the right idea, but now she has to keep an eye out for Lanval too.
DG: Tethelle Cirdian has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Plan an Entry.
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.
Layna had already caught wind of the Guard's activities - she had, in fact, already been here to check it out alongside two others, but the three of them were unable to find any information on what they were up to here in the Quarry.
She had been going back to tell everyone else about what she'd seen when it turned out that Benedict had already been on his way to inform them about it. Their benefactor was quite on the ball, she had to admit.
Layna glances over toward Tethelle and grins slightly.
"Aye. We went in on the other side," Layna, gesturing in one direction and accepting one of Talise's biscuits. "So they've probably been focusing their patrols over there, I'd wager."
That's what she thought, anyway. She has her telescope out now, using it to get a good look at the side entrance Talise pointed out.
Unfortunately, Layna can't really provide much information about the interior of the Quarry. Between her and the Shaman girl that was with her, they ended up skipping past most of the issues here, much to the chagrin of the man who had been accompanying them.
Lanval wanders in on his own...but Layna isn't really too concerned. He's a Seraph - even if someone could see him, Layna doubted they'd do too much about him.
DG: Layna Manydays has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Plan an Entry.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
Fei Fong Wong, miscellaneous do-gooder with no dark secrets whatsoever, is naturally inclined to help though admittedly. The Guard also continuously causes his friends problems, so he's not exactly inclined to avoid work just because it might tweak their nose a little bit. This is especially true since he's pretty sure Lucia just saved his life.
He arrives (with company he invited along) and says, before anything else, "Oh sweet these things," and takes a chocolate biscuit. He offers it to his companion first because he's a gentleman protagonist and will naturally snag a second if one proves to be nececssary. He's a hungry man.
"Last time I was here I made a map--" Fei says, drawing open his sketchpad. "I'm guessing they updated their patrols."
He shows the map to Talise and then, likely, to Tethelle as well.
He tries to avoid getting chocolate smudges on his work.
DG: Fei Fong Wong has used his Tool Artist's Toolkit toward his party's challenge, Plan an Entry.
================================<* Azado Quarry *>================================ =========================<* CHALLENGE - Plan an Entry *>========================== |Type: Entry |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 1 | ----------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------- Althena's Guard is well-entrenched here, with the quarry partially walled off by tall, sharpened logs. There's no slipping past the guards with sheer speed; it'll take some time to get a sense of their patrol patterns, which entrances are considered least essential, and which ones are most prone to distractions. =Dungeon Conditions: Hesitate, Tire===========================================
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
Elly van Houten, a person who is often associated with Fei, is also here. "Oh, thank you," she says, "but I ate already." She does smile at Talise, her eyes running over everyone else present. She is able to perceive Lanval and as such does not even go 'oh hey a Seraph' immediately.
"Well," she says, "I can think of all sorts of reasons for them to have a concealed location, but I just hope it's only something like a hidden training ground for new tactics or something like that." That's perhaps not encouraging in its own right.
After smoothing out her native attire (a forest-green sundress that mostly conceals a thigh holster and a suspiciously new-looking plain bag of sewn leather), Elly gives Fei an emphatic nod. Then her eyes widen. "Oh! A map, that's convenient."
"If this is actually a ridge... we could use it to break any line of sight," Elly says, pointing a finger at a -- something on the map. "Even if there's a patrol there, they'd also be unable to signal for aid."
It might be chocolate.
DG: Elhaym van Houten has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Plan an Entry.
================================<* Azado Quarry *>================================ =========================<* CHALLENGE - Plan an Entry *>========================== |Type: Entry |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 1 | ----------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------- Althena's Guard is well-entrenched here, with the quarry partially walled off by tall, sharpened logs. There's no slipping past the guards with sheer speed; it'll take some time to get a sense of their patrol patterns, which entrances are considered least essential, and which ones are most prone to distractions. =Dungeon Conditions: Hesitate, Tire===========================================
===========================<* Azado Quarry - Round 1 *>=========================== ===========================< Results - Plan an Entry >============================ Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Talise Gianfair 0 --(5)--> 5 Pass Chocolate Biscuits 1 Wits Effects: Cleanse ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Seraph Lanval 0 --(10)--> 10 Fail Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Layna Manydays 0 --(5)--> 5 Pass Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tethelle Cirdian 0 --(10)--> 10 Fail Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Fei Fong Wong 0 --(5)--> 5 Pass Artist's Toolkit 2 Wits Effects: Enlighten ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sephilia Lampbright 0 --(5)--> 5 Pass Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Elhaym van Houten 0 --(10)--> 10 Fail Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------- Leader: Talise Gianfair 0 --(20)--> 20 Pass Conditions: Hesitate(2)|Tire(2) Effects: Cleanse|Enlighten(1) ================================< Dream Chasers >=================================
DG: The party led by Talise Gianfair has passed this challenge! The party gained 20 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.
Talise lowers her eyelids as Lanval just strolls right into the place. She'd pray to Althena that none of the Guard can see him if she thought Althena gave much of a damn about what she had to say.
"Damn it, Lanval," she mutters acidly instead. She tenses a little, then exhales and relaxes, biting into her biscuit roughly as if she could snap a chunk out of the Company's tagalong old soak.
Sighing, the tall swordswoman rakes back her hair and focuses. "Right," she huffs, nodding as Tethelle makes a few points. Then she glances at Layna as the pirate gives her sage advice.
Fei's experience helps. Talise crunches her biscuits as she checks out what he's got to show. "That's really helpful," she murmurs with an approving arch of her brows, before smiling gently back at Elly as the woman gives her advice. The redhead's not one Talise knows very well, but any friend of Fei's is a friend of Talise's, really.
The ridge proves helpful. When the non-Lanval portion of the group does move, they manage to take cover behind the ridge. The patrol passes along, and from there the Magnificent Six manage to slip through that side entrance.
There's no guard on the other side of the door. There's just a table with 'FOOD DELIVERIES HERE' written on a sign.
Talise leaves a biscuit for posterity.
DG: Seraph Lanval has drawn a new Challenge.
===================================================<* Azado Quarry *>=================================================== ===========================================<* CHALLENGE - Look Out Below! *>============================================ |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 2 | -----------------------------------------------< Challenge Information: >----------------------------------------------- Unbeknownst to your party, an obstruction in a natural cave below you is being cleared. The only warning you get is the briefest chanting of a fire spell before the earth shatters beneath you. It's time to hang on for dear life and then slowly climb down -- and hope whoever was clearing this place has decided to move on! =Dungeon Conditions: Cripple==================================================
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.
MEANWHILE, LANVAL'S EXCELLENT MISADVENTURES
Lanval happens along one of the lower levels of the quarry. He runs a hand across the smoothed, excavated stone. "There'sh nobody heeere... hrm." He waddles forward as he has himself another contemplative swig of his drinking gourd. "Who're they makin' it for? Shure don't think I shaw 'nother one lookin' to do their paaaart." He flops against one of the walls to take a breather. He hears some chanting not too far from himself. Black Fire mages, he would assume by their manner of dress.
Above, through some cracks, he can see Talise and the rest walking by.
The mages' chants reach a climax as they finish the final touches on a higher-scale fire spell.
"...Uh oh!"
MEANWHILE, ABOVE
Talise's party enters a natural cavern with no visible Guard patrol. It's very strange, because this place should be highly guarded. Why wouldn't so many be posted down this way?
Some may hear the finishing touches of a great fire spell being finished, through cracks between where they walk and a level below. That is their only warning before a great explosion rocks the ground underneath their feet. Sections of the ground give way, the support underneath the ground having been blasted away. Smoke fills the air, obscuring sight of anything to grab onto before one takes a dangerous fall...
...But wait!
Bubbles float up from below. Big, person-sized bubbles that anyone can comfortably fit inside. If one considers entrusting their lives to the thin, watery membrane of a fragile pocket of trapped air that oft ruptures at the slightest disturbance to its surface to be anything remotely considered 'comfortable.'
To the surprise of maybe only one or two present, Lanval is lazing about inside one of these bubbles, reclining inside as he sighs peacefully after a long drag off a kiseru-style smoking pipe that instead blows bubbles rather than smoke.
He waves 'hello' like this were a casual get-together between friends and not a moment of mortal danger for all involved.
DG: Seraph Lanval has used his Tool Bubble Pipe toward his party's challenge, Look Out Below!.
<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.
"Now where the hell's Lanval," Talise murmurs as the group slips into that cavern. With care, she draws her sword, taking care to keep any telltale light from dancing off of Rastaban's blade. The sword behaves itself. Those who've traveled with her might recognize that she hasn't bound the hilt like she usually does; she left it unwrapped after the adventure in the Flooded Cavern, letting the complex black and green enameling be seen.
Below, smoke begins to waft - and then, something explodes, with barely a word of warning. Talise lets out a startled shout, but it's blessedly lost in the roar of rock and fire.
Debris pelts the tall woman's heavy armour as she recoils, shielding herself with one arm to try and keep the shards of stone from hitting her in the face. It's only marginally successful. Worse than that, her footing's beginning to give way. She staggers, the rock beneath her crumbling downwards --
And a bubble bobbles past her. "Lanval!" Talise shouts, not sure whether she should be relieved or angry right now.
But there's a bubble to be found. That's something, at least. She staggers forward, still shielding herself with her arm, and jumps through that soft membrane and into the familiar orb of water. Fortunately she's been around Lanval long enough to know what his tricks can do.
"Lanval, stay with us," she calls over the roar of the fire spell. "Some of those mages will be able to see you!"
DG: Talise Gianfair has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Look Out Below!.
<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.
Sephy sees the bubbles. "You know what? I kind of wanna try this out for once! It looks fun and how could I call myself an adventurous explorer if I don't do this at least once?" With that, she hops into one.
Chauncey looks nonplussed, dangling from her arms.
At least it's convenient.
DG: Sephilia Lampbright has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Look Out Below!.
<Pose Tracker> Tethelle Cirdian has posed.
Tethelle appreciates a map. "Thanks," she says to Fei, before looking at his friend. Well, she seems like she can probably handle herself.
Tethelle does not pull too far ahead of most people because she doesn't want to end up seperated; she just wanted a better look for Lanval. As it turns out she does not find him after the six of them pass through that side entrance, and she spends a moment considering her options.
She does not leave a biscuit. She ate hers already.
Tethelle picks a direction and starts walking. In tunnels, you have limited options on that front, so she gets several yards in before SOMETHING EXPLODES.
Fortunately, the something was not directly in front of her. Unfortunately, it was directly under her. Tethelle feels the stone shift under her feet, then give way - and she catches herself, gripping the sides of her cloak and using it like an impromptu parachute. It should not work, and yet somehow it does; she descends a lot slower than she was before, though it does mean she doesn't get the fun of riding a bubble. (She's done it before. It is fun, if you can get past the sudden terror.)
"They're going to see all of us in a while," Tethelle calls back to Talise, and that's assuming they didn't hear them already. Tethelle is not invisible, after all. Very not invisible.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
NARRATOR: It was chocolate.
But it does turn out to be that there happens to be a ridge there. Perhaps this is the power of Elhaym van Houten! Turning chocolate... into cover. Fei's mouth is briefly occupied by chocolate biscuits that he is consuming. The group manages to move on and Fei holds up a hand, "What is that noise...?"
But as it turns out, the ground is shortly blown up right from underneath their feet! Fei falls, instinctively reaching out for Elly (who might have her own method of absconding). He even shouts, "Elly!" but before he gets too far he BLOOPS into one of Lanval's bubbles.
He blinks. He bounces around in the bubble. "Is..." bounce. bubble. "Is everybody okay?" Bounce. Bubble.
"Can they hear me from outside the bubble?" Fei wonders aloud.
DG: Fei Fong Wong has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Look Out Below!. DG: Tethelle Cirdian has used her Tool Feather Cape toward her party's challenge, Look Out Below!.
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.
Things seem...pretty simple, actually! They slip in no problem. This is about what Layna expected - that was how it went last time she was here, too. And then...
Layna feels it before it happens. Energy building up, and a sensation of impending danger. She leaps back as the ground beneath her suddenly explodes, erupting in a fiery blast.
She probably wouldn't have been able to predict it if she hadn't practiced with her lead artillerist, Victoria, who had a preference for high-powered explosive spells.
The bigger problem now, though, is that the ground around her feet is becoming unstable...she sees the bubbles floating up and decides to take the opportunity, leaping up into one. She takes the opportunity to draw out a bottle and take a deep swig. She might as well let the bubble take her where it will. If it really becomes a problem, she can just use her wind magic to send them somewhere else.
DG: Layna Manydays has used her Tool Quartermaster's Stash toward her party's challenge, Look Out Below!.
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
Elly stares in simple astonishment at the bubbles. It reminds her of Seraphita, obscurely, even though - of course - Seraphita wouldn't be able to...
"!!!" is Elly's response when something goes BLAM above and rock shards rain down. Dammit; that's her job! But worse - Fei is toppling. She snaps her arm over to hold him, ends up tumbling with a skidding movement of the soles of her feet, spreads her arms -
-- Falls --
bwoop
Inside of the bubble, Elly freezes. She thinks about surface tension. She tries not to think too MUCH about surface tension because even a micro-pressure from her Ether ability could pop this. Her eyes turn towards Fei and her lips thin as she sees Fei moving around like the world is his oyster!
*float* <- the sound of floatation
DG: Elhaym van Houten has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Look Out Below!.
===================================================<* Azado Quarry *>=================================================== ===========================================<* CHALLENGE - Look Out Below! *>============================================ |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 2 | -----------------------------------------------< Challenge Information: >----------------------------------------------- Unbeknownst to your party, an obstruction in a natural cave below you is being cleared. The only warning you get is the briefest chanting of a fire spell before the earth shatters beneath you. It's time to hang on for dear life and then slowly climb down -- and hope whoever was clearing this place has decided to move on! =Dungeon Conditions: Cripple==================================================
==============================================<* Azado Quarry - Round 2 *>============================================== =============================================< Results - Look Out Below! >============================================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Talise Gianfair 5 --(5)--> 10 Pass Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Seraph Lanval 10 --(5)--> 15 Pass Bubble Pipe 3 Agility Effects: Rally ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Layna Manydays 5 --(5)--> 10 Pass Quartermaster's Stash 2 Agility Effects: Quicken ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Tethelle Cirdian 10 --(5)--> 15 Pass Feather Cape 2 Agility Effects: Quicken ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Fei Fong Wong 5 --(10)--> 15 Fail Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Sephilia Lampbright 5 --(5)--> 10 Pass Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DG: The party led by Talise Gianfair has passed this challenge! The party gained 20 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw. [OOC] Tethelle Cirdian says, "and that's why you shouldn't wiggle in the bubble, FEI" [OOC] Tethelle Cirdian says, "I'll grab this one" [OOC] Fei Fong Wong says, "*pop*" [OOC] Sephilia Lampbright says, "*float* is a good sound effect." [OOC] Tethelle Cirdian says, "In fact, I'll grab it now so I can start working on it!!"
DG: Tethelle Cirdian has drawn a new Challenge. ===============================<* Azado Quarry *>===============================
==============================================<* Azado Quarry - Round 2 *>============================================== ======================<* CHALLENGE - Sheer Quarry Wall *>======================= |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 1 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- From your current position, it's a little tricky to actually get any deeper into the quarry. Work to one side, a patrolling Guard unit to the other... looks like the only way down is an awkward slide, climb, or jump down the quarry wall. There's enough of a slope to it that a slide is possible, but risky compared to the other options... decide quickly, though! =Dungeon Conditions: Exhaust================================================== [OOC] Talise Gianfair says, "I believe in you, tethello"
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.
It is a harrowing moment to watch falling rock all around them. Any fragment of stone hitting a bubble is certain doom, but by some miracle, they all largely seem to avoid collision.
...Until Fei's pops from him rocking his boat a bit much. Fortunately for Fei, Layna's wind magic guidance should help prevent him taking a nasty spill on jagged stone underneath. There doesn't seem to be a pattern as to when the bubbles will explicitly pop. Some of them are fated for less-than-ideal landings, but this is about as best case a scenario as it's going to get for the situation.
Take Lanval, whose bubble pops as he pratfalls wedged about a pile of pulverized gravel. His laughter is muffled as he rolls onto his back, which then becomes less muffled.
"Shorry 'bout that~" He rocks back and forth to get himself up on his feet. Footing from here remains perilous, but the rubble forms a shallow decline so long as there's no further sudden explosions or other sudden removal of supports underneath. It would seem the fire mages dutifully cleared the area after the spell's execution. "Jusht got losht, yeeeep." He laughs some more.
<Pose Tracker> Tethelle Cirdian has posed.
Tethelle Cirdian does not have a bubble, so hers doesn't pop.
She touches down about in the middle of the group's landing - well, 'touches' down, as she hits with sufficient force that she has to take several steps forward to use up the momentum or fall on her face. She goes so far forward that she almost falls into another hole, in fact, but manages to stop about two steps in front of it.
Tethelle looks down the hole. It's not a big hole; there's enough room for even the biggest members of the party (like, say, Chauncey, if he stops riding Sephilia) to fit, but only one person at a time. And she can see something down there... "Hey," she says, "there's another tunnel down here. I think they opened a second passage without meaning to. Let's see if we can get ahead of them."
Tethelle goes down first. She still has the cloak on, but she doesn't use it this time - just clambers down the rough wall. It's a difficult climb, but not impossible. A rope would be more useful, but she doesn't have a rope!
DG: Tethelle Cirdian has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Sheer Quarry Wall.
<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.
"Hopefully we can keep it to a longer while than a sooner one," Talise grumbles back at Tethelle as she bobs along in the bubble.
Until it pops. Talise lands with a clatter of steel, wincing and coming down in a three-point stance. She looks up towards Lanval with a sigh, shaking her head.
"Just stick with us, okay?" she urges him. "If the Guard catch you, I'd rather not have you face them by yourself."
Looking back towards Tethelle, Talise lets her friend take up the lead - but as Tethelle halts, Talise blinks, darting forward a couple of feet.
She brings herself up short at the sight of the gap. The sound of a patrol nearby leaves her pulling her cloak around herself to keep her armour from clattering. Dropping her voice, Talise leans in so Tethelle can hear her: "Okay. Right behind you."
Then she looks down the hole.
Althena's thong, Talise laments. I hate climbing. I hate climbing in half plate. I hate climbing the fuggin' ropes. I hate climbing with gauntlets on. I hate climbing, period.
She gamely tries. Swinging her legs down the hole, Talise looks up towards Fei and Elly. "Careful on the way down, you two," she urges them.
Then she slips down the hole, trying to somehow clamber down the rocks without an excess of jingling. It's hard.
DG: Talise Gianfair has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Sheer Quarry Wall.
<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.
Sephilia's bubble pops and she is immediately gushing about how exciting it was and how she wants to try it again sometime and asking everyone else if they had as much fun as she did.
Typical Sephy!
She looks down the hole, a few moments later. "Oh, good. Climbing practice time! Hang on tight, Chauncey!" With that, she sets to climbing.
DG: Sephilia Lampbright has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Sheer Quarry Wall.
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.
Layna lands safely, in a pretty light fashion. She's used to taking falls like this - she was, after all, a pirate, and one with a tendency toward dramatics. She's often known to jump from high places, and stick the landing with no problem. That's not, however, what she has in mind here. That's what she did last time she was faced with a situation like this. Besides, last time she was being chased by something, and this time she can afford a bit more time to scope out the situation.
Shehe finds the right spot...and begins sliding down at high speeds. The wind picks up half-way through, allowing her to control her slide and cushion her fall, just in case she runs into unforeseen trouble.
She grinning the whole time she's doing it, too. She might enjoy this a little too much.
DG: Layna Manydays has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Sheer Quarry Wall. [OOC] Sephilia Lampbright says, "Sephy MUST be in a better mood since she got back to Lunar, she's not even complaining about climbing!" [OOC] Tethelle Cirdian says, "it's good exercise" [OOC] Talise Gianfair says, "Talise is in a similar boat but will always dread falling off the fuggin' ropes and anything that resembles the fuggin' ropes" [OOC] Tethelle Cirdian says, "Good news, we skipped the ropes"
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.
"Okaaaay." Lanval's affirmation of Talise's call to stick close seems to span the spectrum of both cheerful, childlike affirmation as much as one being chided for misbehavior. "Ash for the Guuuaaard, ahhhh," his voice trails off. He never gets around to finishing that sentence before Tethelle points out the next stop on their route. It's a bit of a drop. He leeeeeeaaaans out over the edge, tantalizingly taunting the forces of gravity itself as he brings a hand over his brow to see.
"...Should be 'nother one here," he murmurs aloud as people start to navigate the drop in their own way. Layna goes on ahead and just has herself a blast sliding down.
"Laaaaynaaaaa~! Wait for meeee!" Lanval doesn't leap for it so much as just tumble forward, allowing gravity to take him as he twists and contorts about the handholds and contours of this particular drop.
It's like watching water itself navigate the environment that shapes and contains it, with a certain majesty appropriate of a natural spirit of Lunar and the element they embody, twisting and turning as they wiggle and wrench through the complex gaps of terrain an ordinary human couldn't at this speed. There is a flexibility present to his manifested form, limber and agile - exactly like a contortionist, acrobatically navigating this fall as he spills forth.
That or he's being bludgeoned out of his wits and has already been knocked unconscious, suppressing any calls of pain. It's hard to tell.
DG: Seraph Lanval has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Sheer Quarry Wall. [OOC] Sephilia Lampbright says, "by the way dinner is about to be dished out here, so I will eat as quick as I can and return when I can" [OOC] Elhaym van Houten suplex every dog [OOC] Seraph Lanval says, "with love?"
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
Fei's bubble pops. "Gah!!"
He is promptly deftly guided to the floor thanks to Layna's wind magic. He pokes the ground with his feet a few times as if to ascertain its solidity. He does not think about Althena's thong because that thong wearing lady was obviously not Althena anyway, just Margaret's ancestor.
He says, "That...sounds like a plan," to Tethelle. The fire spell seems to have rattled him somewhat but he keeps his cool even if he was worried for a moment he'd break a leg on the rocks below.
He gives Lanval a quick look before glancing back to Elly. "You okay?"
He takes in a deep breath but there isn't a lot of time to prepare himself.
He starts a-runnin' down the slope and the run rapidly becomes a slide. As he slides, he tries to pick up speed boosts and hidden items without crashing into walls on the way. He wants to PERFECT this minigame if he can. If only he had the Tag badge.
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
Elly rose high on the winds of Layna and has to hold her skirt down with one hand while falling from three meters up to land on a mostly-stable boulder. After this she crouches on the balls of her feet, before slowly relaxing.
And looking down the vertiginous drop to the deeper-within recesses of this place.
"Oh-" she answers Fei:
FLASHBACK
LAHAN
Not that red night, but a time later, before the bodies finished stinking. Elly remembers a sheer cliff wall that defeated them through sheer obstinate consistency; a difficulty that she had to descend in not so different a way.
NOW AGAIN
Her eyes seem obscurely fearful, before she focuses on Fei. "I just - oh!" Away he goes.
Elly considers matters, and remembers her solution back in Lahan...
FLASHBACK
LAHAN
There is now a rock wall with a lot of weird little heart-shaped protruberances. It is probably meaningless to the people of Filgaia, but aficinados of the two Exercise Courses in Etrenank would recognize rock climbing wall handholds.
BACK HERE ONCE MORE
"I don't think that'll work," she murmurs.
As Fei makes a path down he can see the occasional toppling of a rock, always to the left, away from him. About halfway down the route, as Elly reaches up to hold her hair down from breezes, Elly finishes smoothing a route with Earth Ether, shoves her stone's front lip down with one foot, and...
Is this skating? Or is it more like curling?
"Thank you for looking out for us," she says to Talise along the way.
DG: Elhaym van Houten has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Sheer Quarry Wall. ================================<* Azado Quarry *>================================
==============================================<* Azado Quarry - Round 2 *>============================================== =======================<* CHALLENGE - Sheer Quarry Wall *>======================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 1 | ----------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------- From your current position, it's a little tricky to actually get any deeper into the quarry. Work to one side, a patrolling Guard unit to the other... looks like the only way down is an awkward slide, climb, or jump down the quarry wall. There's enough of a slope to it that a slide is possible, but risky compared to the other options... decide quickly, though! =Dungeon Conditions: Exhaust================================================== ------------------------------------< TOOLS >------------------------------------- |Player |Tool |Lvl|Ability|Effects | |Talise Gianfair |Rush |0 |Agility| | |Seraph Lanval |Rush |0 |Agility| | |Layna Manydays |Rush |0 |Agility| | |Tethelle Cirdian |Rush |0 |Agility| | |Fei Fong Wong | | | | | |Sephilia Lampbright |Rush |0 |Agility| | |Elhaym van Houten |Rush |0 |Agility| | ================================< Dream Chasers >=================================
DG: Fei Fong Wong has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Sheer Quarry Wall.
===============================<* Azado Quarry *>=============================== ======================<* CHALLENGE - Sheer Quarry Wall *>======================= |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 1 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- From your current position, it's a little tricky to actually get any deeper into the quarry. Work to one side, a patrolling Guard unit to the other... looks like the only way down is an awkward slide, climb, or jump down the quarry wall. There's enough of a slope to it that a slide is possible, but risky compared to the other options... decide quickly, though! =Dungeon Conditions: Exhaust==================================================
==========================<* Azado Quarry - Round 3 *>========================== ========================< Results - Sheer Quarry Wall >========================= Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Talise Gianfair 10 --(5)--> 15 Pass Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Seraph Lanval 15 --(5)--> 20 Pass Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Layna Manydays 10 --(5)--> 15 Pass Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tethelle Cirdian 15 --(20)--> 35 Fail Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Fei Fong Wong 15 --(5)--> 20 Pass Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sephilia Lampbright 10 --(5)--> 15 Pass Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Elhaym van Houten 15 --(5)--> 20 Pass Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Talise Gianfair 40 --(20)--> 60 Pass Conditions: Cripple|Exhaust(1) Effects: ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Talise Gianfair has passed this challenge! The party gained 20 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
<Pose Tracker> Tethelle Cirdian has posed.
Tethelle will be the first person to admit that her plan wasn't great, but it was a plan and she's sticking to it.
"Are you all right up there," she asks, hearing more messing around with a slope than the steeper one she's on. Smoothing it out and sliding works if you have control over stone, like Elly does, but Tethelle does not and has to pull herself along with fingertips and boots.
Tethelle loses her grip about ten feet from the ground and falls, landing with a heavy thump and rolling. She pushes herself up, more dazed and with the air knocked out of her than really hurt, and honestly if that was the biggest tumble they did pretty well; Talise, Sephilia, Fei and Layna's climbing and Lanval's... very Lanval approach seem to be working better than her own.
"'m okay," she says, once she's recovered enough to speak. Now where are they?
DG: Layna Manydays has drawn a new Challenge.
==============================<* Azado Quarry *>============================== =========================<* CHALLENGE - Rockslide *>========================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 2 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- Somewhere above you, one of the workers hits a wall in just the wrong way, and stone starts to tumble from above. There's not a lot of room to maneuver where you are right now, but you're going to have to if you don't want to get crushed under the weight of the ages! Or, well, the weight of a bunch of stone. =Dungeon Conditions: Slow=====================================================
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.
Layna slides to a stop amidst a cloud of dust, and turns back to the others with a grin. She notices Tethelle's trouble, though, and moves over to offer her a hand up, just in case she needs it. This hand is also filled with a nice, cool, refreshing drink, which she may very well want at this point.
"Everyone alright?" Layna says, glancing around. It looks like they'd found themselves in something akin to an open mineshaft - a lower passageway through the quarry. There's not a lot of room here...which soon becomes a problem, as the Fire mages from before are still hard at work.
And unfortunately for the party, their work has the side-effect of causing the corridor to shake. Before long stone begins to come loose from somewhere up above, which then goes roaring down toward them.
"Watch your head, me hearties!" Layna calls out in warning, backpedaling just as a large rock comes crashing down where she stood a moment before. "Keep moving further in, we might be able to get away from 'em!"
And with that, she starts to run.
DG: Layna Manydays has used her Tool Quartermaster's Stash toward her party's challenge, Rockslide.
<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.
Talise looks up at Elly and nods, smiling roughly. "No problem. Any friend of Fei's is a friend of mine."
Then Tethelle takes a tumble. Talise gasps and drops down after her with a call of, "Tethelle!" She slides the rest of the way down the rock, dropping down beside Tethelle and crouching to help her up if she needs it.
When Tethelle assures her she's alright, Talise smiles with a flood of relief. "Thank Althena," she breathes, reaching for a Healing Nut and offering it up to her friend. It's one of the nuts Benedict dropped off with the group.
When she looks up again as Layna calls out, Talise opens her mouth to say something - but the rumble and creak of stone cuts her off. The swordswoman grits her teeth as a stone comes tumbling down. She smacks it away from herself and Tethelle with a broad sweep of one gauntlet.
"Come on, we've got to get out of here!" she shouts as she begins to run. Holding an arm up as if to shield her face from falling stones, Talise at least keeps her gaze leveled above her sleeve. She darts around a tumbling chunk of debris, then looks back with a quick, anxious look, checking to see if everyone else is with her.
Sephilia especially. She wouldn't be able to face Sephilia's dad again if his precious daughter got crushed by falling rocks on her watch.
DG: Talise Gianfair has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Rockslide.
<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.
Sephilia is short. Sephilia has short legs. She may not be complaining about climbing--she did quite well, in fact! But this?
"Why does this always happen!" she asks, dashing as quick as her little legs will carry her. She tends to be lucky, at least.
"I'm with you, Talise, don't get crushed waiting for me!"
DG: Sephilia Lampbright has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Rockslide.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.
At the end of the drop, Lanval catches himself in a final series of tumbles that terminate at the end of a soft slope to 'catch' him, like a gentle crashing wave... and then slouches over, supporting himself with an elbow as he has himself another drink from the gourd, looking pleased with himself.
One of his eyes opens when he sees Tethelle struggle to speak and rise. He hoists himself up with a little effort as a number move to check on her. "Tethelle...?" He almost sounds sobered, as though wondering if what just happened were much more serious than first appears.
It is! Just not Tethelle, as he feels a small chunk of rock bounce off of his head. He rolled around the rocks on the way down almost effortlessly, like it were second nature. When the rocks, instead, start to race and collapse around them, therein lies a new problem as the hefty water elemental struggles to catch up.
Water can slip through cracks and crevices, flowing as it will, but there is one truth about the way of water that dictates its existence.
It is ultimately bound by what shapes it.
The falling and tumbling rock demonstrates this aptly, as Lanval appears to disappear underneath it all.
DG: Seraph Lanval has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Rockslide.
<Pose Tracker> Tethelle Cirdian has posed.
Once you've been thrown across a massive room and into a pillar by Berserk, a mere ten-foot drop is a whole lot less terrifying.
Tethelle does accept the nut as she rises, though, because just because she's had worse doesn't mean she feels entirely perfect. She crunches into it, because apparently her method of opening shells is to use her teeth and then spit it out. What? It means you don't need to find a tool.
So it's loud, but not so loud that she can't hear something else crack: stone, distantly, followed by stone, closer to. "Good idea," she says, crouching for a moment in something close to a runner's start before she starts to run, skirt and cloak billowing out behind her as she picks up speed. When she makes a jump, it's a fairly long, almost drifting one that lets her clear a lot of distance quickly.
Like Sephilia (though not as much), Tethelle also has short legs. She has never really let this get her down.
Metaphorically speaking, anyway.
DG: Tethelle Cirdian has used her Tool Feather Cape toward her party's challenge, Rockslide.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
Fei gets an 'Oh' back which is pretty informative. Her eyes tell plenty a story there as well. "Seems like we don't got much choice."
There is sliding! Fei manages to even make it on his own this time. It seems like without surprise bubbles, Fei can manage alright on his own without too much trouble. He stops at the end once he is more sure of his footing in order to make sure everybody has made it. He does a quick headcount. Naturally, he counts Chauncey as his own person because he is the leader of Fox Company after all.
He assumes. It's called Fox Company after all. "Oh uh--thanks." He says to Talise, surprised by the statement. It's always a little surprising. Perhaps it's imposter friend syndrome. Still, he smiles.
'Alright. Think we all made it at least."
A rock falls! Fei pushes himself back suddenly to the back of the wall, but does he do it fast enough? Does he make it?
Probably not honestly but he can dream.
DG: Fei Fong Wong has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Rockslide.
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
"Do you mind if I ask you something about what you're saying?" Elly asks Talise as they keep on trucking. "I'm doing fine," she calls to Layna parenthetically as she looks up and -
*angelic chorus*
There is no angelic chorus but Elly seems to be doing some damn thing to actively deflect rock. She shades her eyes against the dust, but then something moves -- "Ah! Fei, be careful--!"
DG: Elhaym van Houten has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Rockslide.
==============================<* Azado Quarry *>============================== =========================<* CHALLENGE - Rockslide *>========================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 2 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- Somewhere above you, one of the workers hits a wall in just the wrong way, and stone starts to tumble from above. There's not a lot of room to maneuver where you are right now, but you're going to have to if you don't want to get crushed under the weight of the ages! Or, well, the weight of a bunch of stone. =Dungeon Conditions: Slow=====================================================
=========================<* Azado Quarry - Round 4 *>========================= ===========================< Results - Rockslide >============================ Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Talise Gianfair 15 --(10)--> 25 Fail Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Seraph Lanval 20 --(10)--> 30 Fail Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Layna Manydays 15 --(5)--> 20 Pass Quartermaster's Stash 2 Agility Effects: Quicken ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Tethelle Cirdian 35 --(5)--> 40 Pass Feather Cape 2 Agility Effects: Quicken ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Fei Fong Wong 20 --(10)--> 30 Fail Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Sephilia Lampbright 15 --(10)--> 25 Fail Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Elhaym van Houten 20 --(5)--> 25 Pass Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC ----------------------------------< Party >----------------------------------- Leader: Talise Gianfair 60 --(20)--> 80 Pass Conditions: Cripple|Slow(2) Effects: Quicken(1) ==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: The party led by Talise Gianfair has passed this challenge! The party gained 20 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.
The sudden rockslide proves to be a difficult foe. They fall down all around in a fashion that makes them hard to predict and hard to outrun. Tethelle's cape gives her more than enough distance to glide to safety, and Layna is similarly able to get enough speed going that she doesn't have any problem making it to the other side.
The others aren't so lucky.
Rocks fall on top of them. Fortunately, most of it is small bits of rubble - painful, but not as dangerous as if it were one of the larger ones. They have Elly to thank for that - she seems to be doing something to divert the rocks away from them, which Fei finds out as one comes too close for comfort.
With her help, the rest of them will be able to make it to safety. ...Except, one of them seems to be missing.
"Lanval, lad!" Layna calls out, walking in the direction she ran from. The rockslide had stopped, making traversal difficult. Where was he? She was a little worried...
DG: Fei Fong Wong has drawn a new Challenge.
==============================<* Azado Quarry *>============================== =======================<* CHALLENGE - Blocked Tunnel *>======================= |Type: Final |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 3 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- A side tunnel at the very bottom of the quarry has been excavated and subsequently blocked off. Something glints in the distance inside it, a hint that could be treasure or refuse -- but it's hard to know what without prying off, blowing away, or otherwise getting rid of the barricades. By this point, the Guard is very much aware of your presence, too, so speed is as important as care -- you don't want to bury the path with speed, but you can't afford to waste time, either! =Dungeon Conditions: Overzealous==============================================
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
Fei Fong Wong nearly gets squashed, but Elly provides some active deflection to move the rock. Fei, naturally, being unable to tell exactly how it was done is still able to tell that Elly was doing SOMETHING. "Close one," He admits to Elly. "Thanks for the save."
The team moves on and Fei glances about. "Let's see... Last time...it was on this level that I found the staff. Probably don't want to go the exact same route." Fei murmurs as a sudden flash of light behind a barricaded wall gleams just brightly enough to catch the eye.
As a JRPG protagonist, Fei knows to immediately check these gleams out and collect all that he can, regardless of whether they might actually be usfeul.
He turns, "I think something's behind this wall." Fei says. "If we hurry we can snag it right out from under their noses before they surround us."
He takes in a deep breath, reaching into his pocket with one hand and launching a chi blast with the other for the rock. It's not exactly subtle, but it's a good way to get the job done.
DG: Fei Fong Wong has used his Tool Mother's Cross toward his party's challenge, Blocked Tunnel.
<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.
Lord Chauncey of Foxington is, in fact, the proprietor and chief executive of the Company of the Fox. But Talise is the deputy CEO.
Speaking of which, Talise blinks at Elly as she dashes along. "Sure, go ahead," she invites with a quick nod, moving to travel closer to the redhead so that Elly won't have to shout.
It does, at least, put her closer to Fei. She scratches at her cheek, nodding to the martial artist. "Yeah? Okay. Following your lead--"
She, too, spots the flash of light. Talise pauses, then turns to look straight towards the source of that glint and the barricade hiding it. Turns out she's a JRPG heroine, too. "Yeah. Something must be. Right...." Giving her arms a brisk shake, Talise smacks her gauntleted hands together with a clash of steel and chain, then rolls her shoulders a couple of times. She pops her neck to the left with an uncomfortable-sounding crack, then to the other side with less audible of one.
Magic spills through the gauntlets. Beneath her armour, Talise's muscles bunch and tighten. A vein in her neck pulses as she steps forward, the magic compounding her natural strength as she punches a fistmark into the barricade. Roughly, she grips her new handhold, beginning to try and tear out a large chunk of the walling and thrust it out of the way.
Talise glances towards Elly as she works, letting out a puff of effort. "So what were you saying...?"
DG: Talise Gianfair has used her Tool Ogre Power Gauntlets toward her party's challenge, Blocked Tunnel.
<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.
Speaking of Lord Chauncey of Foxington...Sephy has only just finished attaching his digging claws when he is embiggened and set to digging! "I don't know what they think they can keep from ol' Chauncey an' the rest of us, but they got another thing coming, don't they?" the girl asks, beaming.
DG: Sephilia Lampbright has used her Tool Digging Claws toward her party's challenge, Blocked Tunnel.
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.
Lanval's nowhere to be seen. Layna curses to herself...but decides that he's probably fine. A guy like that would probably show up elsewhere just fine, right? Right. That's what she decides as she moves off to join the others, where they've found a section of the quarry that's been barricaded off.
Layna draws out her drill, and sets it to whirring.
"You think like a proper pirate, lad." Layna comments with a grin toward Fei. She waits for him to blast the wall and for Talise and Chauncey to move in before she joins them, bringing her drill down to join them in piercing right through the barricade.
She was curious as to just what it was they were so eager to hide!
<Pose Tracker> Tethelle Cirdian has posed.
Tethelle touches down after the long jump with a lot more grace than she managed after the cloak-assisted fall. It's a lot easier to control yourself when you can to uch the ground every so often.
She dusts herself off when she gets far enough away that nothing is actively falling on her head. She needs it. There is rock dust everywhere. "I wish," she says, "just sometimes, that I had a way to make water with a Medium, just so I could wash this off me. I've been getting way too dusty lately."
Tethelle looks around, counting heads. One is missing. Again. "Where's Lanval?" she asks. She assumes he'll catch up because, well, he always does, but she'd kind of like to know where he is so she can worry a little less; she frowns, but turns aside as some of the group starts digging into the side tunnel.
Talise has magical strength. Fei has chi. Sephi (well, Chauncey) has digging claws. Even Layna has a drill. Tethelle has arm and core muscles built up from swinging a heavy sword around and years and years of good exercise. It may be less flashy, but she climbs in, pushing away broken rocks and clearing the tunnel as it's torn up by some of the others.
"Since you're helping," she says to Elly, grunting as she lifts a heavy object, "you may as well ask. What's the worst that could happen, we don't answer?"
DG: Tethelle Cirdian has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Blocked Tunnel.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.
ELSEWHERE
Lanval hasn't been able to escape the pile-up of rocks yet. He's sure he'll get out... eventually. He laughs to himself, though he is in a bit of pain. But, therein lies a new problem. He can hear Guard movements. Shouting. The clanging of metal. It won't be long before they come across this pile - and maybe even past. He knows where his friends are going, or were going. No doubt they're being pursued.
...
What does he do? What can he do? He is but a humble servant of the Goddess, by his admission - but so are Althena's Guard.
...
There is one thing he can do.
Though buried in rubble, Lanval's still got a bit of the ol' Seraphic sorcery in him. Putting the mouth of his gourd upward through the brightest crack he can see, he chants the proper incantation. The circle of light underneath him remains obscured by the stone, and then...
Water gushes out from the rubble, culminating into a majestic fountain - a geyser - of clear, sparkling, pure water of such quantity that it forms a river that fills the space between where the Guard are encroaching, and where Fox Company left.
He laughs again. Easy enough! No problems there. While everyone ahead works on the rock, Lanval masks his interference as but an excavated source of water, attempting to ensure that both parties never meet nor come to conflict as the water level rises around him.
He'll have an easier time moving around once the water level rises high enough.
DG: Seraph Lanval has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Blocked Tunnel.
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
Elly smiles at Fei, AGAIN. This will happen a lot, get used to it.
She speaks to Talise as they move along. "You're going against the Guard, aren't you? I suppose I can't speak to your own feelings, but... I don't understand why you call on the goddess like that. But where I grew up," which is a very good question to never be addressed, "we weren't... very religious; and, of course, either way, it was on Filgaia."
Then they are faced, at last, with a wall. "Staff?" she asks Fei, even as she finally reaches into that suspiciously new-looking leather satchel. As she rummages in it, others catch up. When Tethelle speaks she says, "Oh! Well - hold on --"
She gets into that with both hands. What comes out is... it's like a piece of gauze soaked in pure alcohol, although if Tethelle opts to slurp it down she may get a surprise. She proffers it to Tethelle, saying as she does, "This should get most of the dirt off once you're ready."
DG: Elhaym van Houten has used her Tool Crash Kit toward her party's challenge, Blocked Tunnel.
<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.
Talise grunts as she works to shoulder aside a chunk of the barricade.
"I guess it's instinctual," she admits with a shrug to Elly, pausing in her work for just a moment. "I grew up thinking of Althena a lot differently than she turned out to be, or how the Guard says she is. I guess there's a part of me that hopes Althena is still listening."
With a shake of her head, Talise delivers a swift kick to the barricade, then yanks a chunk of wood out and chucks it aside. It hits the cave wall with a clatter and falls to the floor. "Maybe I just hope she'll go back to being the goddess of music I always believed she was."
<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.
Sephy nods in agreement with Talise. "Althena's been around a looooooong time, but the Guard and all that are only recent--recent enough that I remember before they were around!" And with Sephy being as young as she is...which, come to mention it, she doesn't quite look so young as she used to thanks to how she's been able to update her wardrobe since returning to Lunar. She'd been starting to before, even, but things had got...
messy. Towards the end on Filgaia.
DG: Layna Manydays has used her Tool Arm-Mounted Drill toward her party's challenge, Blocked Tunnel.
================================<* Azado Quarry *>================================ =========================<* CHALLENGE - Blocked Tunnel *>========================= |Type: Final |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 3 | ----------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------- A side tunnel at the very bottom of the quarry has been excavated and subsequently blocked off. Something glints in the distance inside it, a hint that could be treasure or refuse -- but it's hard to know what without prying off, blowing away, or otherwise getting rid of the barricades. By this point, the Guard is very much aware of your presence, too, so speed is as important as care -- you don't want to bury the path with speed, but you can't afford to waste time, either! =Dungeon Conditions: Overzealous==============================================
==============================<* Azado Quarry *>============================== =======================<* CHALLENGE - Blocked Tunnel *>======================= |Type: Final |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 3 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- A side tunnel at the very bottom of the quarry has been excavated and subsequently blocked off. Something glints in the distance inside it, a hint that could be treasure or refuse -- but it's hard to know what without prying off, blowing away, or otherwise getting rid of the barricades. By this point, the Guard is very much aware of your presence, too, so speed is as important as care -- you don't want to bury the path with speed, but you can't afford to waste time, either! =Dungeon Conditions: Overzealous==============================================
=========================<* Azado Quarry - Round 5 *>========================= =========================< Results - Blocked Tunnel >========================= Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Talise Gianfair 25 --(5)--> 30 Pass Ogre Power Gauntlets 2 Brute Effects: Strengthen ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Seraph Lanval 30 --(10)--> 40 Fail Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Layna Manydays 20 --(5)--> 25 Pass Arm-Mounted Drill 3 Brute Effects: Fanfare ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Tethelle Cirdian 40 --(10)--> 50 Fail Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Fei Fong Wong 30 --(5)--> 35 Pass Mother's Cross 4 Brute Effects: None ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Sephilia Lampbright 25 --(5)--> 30 Pass Digging Claws 3 Brute Effects: Rally ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Elhaym van Houten 25 --(10)--> 35 Fail Crash Kit 1 Brute Effects: Cleanse ----------------------------------< Party >----------------------------------- Leader: Talise Gianfair 80 --(35)--> 115 Pass Conditions: Cripple|Overzealous(2)|Slow(1) Effects: Cleanse|Strengthen(1) ==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: You have overcome the dungeon's trials! This run is a success! DG: The party led by Talise Gianfair has successfully explored Azado Quarry!
==============================<* Azado Quarry *>============================== =====================<* CHALLENGE - Elemental Weapons *>====================== |Type: Discovery |Dungeon Ability: Conclusion|Challenge Rating: 1 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- Judging from this cache of steel, it'd be reasonable to conclude that either Althena's Guard expects an out-and-out rebellion or something scary in the depths of the quarry. The number of elementally-attuned weapons here is staggering, and the types and elements both run the gamut. Everything from holy swords to dark war fans is present -- you won't be able to take EVERYTHING with you, but they're all quality pieces. Even if you don't want anything for yourself, quality gear from Neo-Vane can sell for a pretty penny. =Dungeon Conditions: Treasure=================================================
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
Fei will probably not get used to Elly's smiles any time soon. Each one will light a fire in his heart.
"Yeah," Fei says, taking a break from chiblasting and allowing Layna, Sephilia, and Talise to get in there with kick, drill, and claw. The chi blast weakened the wall and Elly doesn't end up needing to USE her bomb before the barricade gives way. Which is just as well. It would've probably been noisy. "That staff I gave Lily, I found it in here. And it seems--"
Yes! There is yet another hidden armory here except this time it's a way bigger breadth of gear than last time. Fei's eyes widen as he looks at the very intentionally hidden away weapons and armor.
"What the..." Fei says. "This is way more than I expected." He frowns. "...I guess they're expecting a rebellion of some kind."
There isn't a lot of time to 'shop around' but anybody in the group can pick at least something out to drag out with them before the Guard is upon them.
"It wouldn't surprise me if Althena's different from how she's been presented. I know Lucia says she believes in her and well--I wouldn't say that's enough for me, but she must have some reason for thinking that at least."
<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.
"Huh! All kinds of magic weapons," Sephy observes. "This is serious stuff they're hiding here. We should put the word out or--well, I guess we'll let that guy decide how to do that. Hey, does anyone see any folding chairs in this pile of weapons? Chauncey's is getting pretty beat up..."
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.
In time, Lanval floats to the surface of the body of water of his making. He's bought the group some time. A further disheveled, damp, and dull Seraph eventually deigns to trudge along towards where he thinks the group went.
He happens upon them going about an entire armory of elementally-enhanced weapons...!
His eyes open. "Huuuuuuuuuhhhh?"
There may or may not be some 'oh, hi, you're okay Lanval' glances and the like, as he staggers with a bit more noted expediency than usual towards some of the assortment of weapons. He runs a hand across the length of a wind-elemental whip. "Whooooa... that'sh shome bleshin'..." Hiccup! "Uhhh... shaaaaaaay...!!"
He strokes his beard. "Did any of you shee any other Sheraphiiiim...?" His voice trails off to being darn near inaudible as he contemplates this over another swig of his gourd. Why does he want to know? "Ooooooh, alsho, uhh, the Guard... miiiight be findin' another way here, shooo... ya may wanna make it quick~"
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.
Before long, they're able to break right on through. It goes much better than it did for her last time - but then again, there's a lot more of them here. Layna stows the drill away and moves into the armory, taking a look around with a whistle.
"Well, they wouldn't exactly be wrong, aye?" Layna comments with a grin and a wide gesture. After all, wasn't this an act of rebellion right here? Here they were, raiding their stash of equipment.
And in time, someone appears - it's Lanval!
"Good to see you made it out alright, lad. Knew that wouldn't do you in." She says with a grin, then raises an eyebrow. "...Other Seraphim? Can't say that I did."
As she's talking to him, however, something catches her eye - a pair of bracers made of red and gold metal. Layna can tell there's some sort of magic flowing through them, but she can't tell right away what it is...so, of course, she slaps both of them on, and admires them with a grin.
"Alright, me hearties! Take everything that's nailed down and let's get outta here. But once everyone's done, I think I'm gonna give them a nice present." Layna says. She reaches into her pack, pulling out...what appears to be a clay pot with a tag of some sort attached to the front.
Talise and maybe even Sephilia will be able to immediately recognize this as a form of high-powered explosive native to Lunar.
"No sense in leaving all this stuff for the Guard to use, aye?" She comments with a grin.
<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.
As the barricade is peeled away, Talise widens her eyes, startled at just how much weaponry the Guard has stashed in here. She frowns deeply. "Yeaaaah. They've got to be preparing for something nasty... but it wouldn't shock me, I guess? There are plenty of common people who don't like the Guard. Especially if they're up to something rotten...." She tapers off, not quite sure where the thought was going for lack of real evidence.
She shelves the thought and just moves to check out the weapons.
Perhaps predictably, Talise goes straight for the swords. With Rastaban still sheathed at her back, Talise begins going through the blades hilt by hilt. A backup weapon, after all, would be useful.
Giving Lanval a momentary, slightly nonplussed look, Talise finally huffs and takes ahold of a particular hilt. "Yeah... maybe dilly-dallying is bad. Didn't see any Seraphim, though." She pulls the sword out of its rack.
Talise hefts the sword experimentally a couple of times. She frowns. Then she puts it back and picks out another one, a couple of hilts over. This one is a heavy-bladed claymore, heavier than Rastaban and with a hilt inlaid with a bit of copper edging here and there. Stepping far enough away that she won't hit anyone else, Talise gives the weapon a couple of smooth, experimental swings, sweeping it over her head, then back down, then into a couple of standard defensive stances.
"This one, I like," Talise says. "Feels earthy."
Found Earthsplitter x1
Talise grab a sheath for the big claymore, before swiping a couple smaller swords and stowing them as Layna starts pulling out the kaboom.
<Pose Tracker> Tethelle Cirdian has posed.
Tethelle believes in Althena, but she believes in her as some kind of greater spirit of the moon, something analogous to a Guardian, perhaps of Song. She does not believe in her as a true and only god, and so she very deliberately does not join that part of the conversation - it's the one thing she's likely to come into conflict with the rest of Fox Company about.
So instead of joining in, she shoves her way through a last few rocks, shoulder-first. This showers her with more dust, so she is grateful when Elly offers her a -
"What is this?" she asks, sniffing at it and getting the pungency of something strong off it. She tentatively wipes her arm with it, and then with more vigor if it proves useful. Then her face. "Thank you for that. Where do I get more of these?" She must have them.
She's busy enough cleaning that her sword senses take a moment to tingle. But tingle they do, and she steps into the room, drawing a breath inward as she sees the items. "I agree with Lanval," she says, having seen him return to the grou p. He looks okay...ish... a little soggy, but isn't he a water Seraph? He's supposed to look soggy.
Tethelle walks toward the blades. She stops perhaps five feet away from the closest, breathes a prayer to Equites, and reaches for one without looking.
The weapon Tethelle picks up isn't a sword, or is only sort of a sword. It's a short glaive, but a glaive with an extended blade; faintly curved, with metal binding along the upper part of the haft. The whole thing is about seven feet long, perhaps a third to half of which is blade and metal guard.
Tethelle swings the whole thing over one shoulder without actually trying to use it. There are runes on it, so presumably it does something... "This will do," she says, with a grin.
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
"Oh! Well, they're kind of... I suppose it's difficult to explain briefly, but, er, I'm sure you can ask an alchemist," Elly says to Tethelle with some haste, before retreating to the safer topic of RELIGION.
Elly gives Talise a thoughtful nod. "It must be a comfort to think that she's listening... whatever comes of it," she says, almost half to herself.
Soon enough, the trove is breached. Elly's brow furrows slightly even as her eyes widen. "We keep finding these armories, Fei," she says to him as she shades her eyes to peer inside. "Though I don't recognize a lot of this..."
Lucia, Elly thinks. She's probably laying low now that we're back on Lunar.
"... I suppose it depends what they'd be using it for," she says to Layna.
Dead ahead again, Elly sidles in and starts examining the racks, especially when Lanval raises the spectre of other Seraphim (Sheraphim? Elly wonders briefly.) "Thank you for the bubble... ...s, earlier," Elly says to him.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
Fei Fong Wong collects an Ice Sword for Leon, since the Gun Sword may attract attention. Also because maybe he's a Leon and as we all know, Squall's element is Ice. Fei odesn't use equipment, which is sometimes unfortunate, but finding Leon and Lily's gear upgrades seems to be part of his duties as Xenogears protagonist.
"They were pretty helpful," Fei agrees on the matter of bubbles. "Though uh--it did catch me by surprise, I'll admit it." He looks to Elly. "Leon could probably use a weapon that doesn't stand out as much right? Do you think?"
<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.
Sephilia grabs a wind dagger, finally, and shoves it into her belt. "It's good to blend in," she says, having completely failed to do so on Filgaia.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.
"Shuuuure! Shure. It'sh no prooblem~" Lanval slurs his 'you're welcome' equivalent to Elly. There's a tone in his voice in which he seems to act as though he's overly familiar with almost everyone around him. He's acting far too open and friendly for what is a complete stranger...
It dampens a bit as Talise thoughts drift aloud. "L-Let'sh not... get too far ahead of ourshelves..."
There are denials about seeing any other Seraphim. His laughter slows and he starts to rub at the back of his head as half-lidded eyes scan the armory with a prolonged 'hrrrrrrrrrrm' while the other picks up what looks like a water-aligned hand-axe. This one he seems to regard with a more reserved but still amused chuckle. Almost... derisive, instead? He drops it, ambles off, and...
Oooh, jackpot. Some potion cococtions used specifically for the maintenance of such weapons! He helps himself to a small assortment of them. (Silver to saleh'toma that almost all of them will have their contents drank up despite of a lack of any actual alcohol within them by the time they leave the quarry.)
"Aaaaaah, forgedabouddit~" He declares of his query deep in the heart of the quarry, preparing to abscond with the rest of them.